The Category 6 jack is a receptacle that accepts a Category 6 plug, and is frequently used to electrically interconnect telecommunication equipment. There are several standards that dictate how the Category 6 jack is constructed and performs. Two of which are TIA/EIA (Telecommunications Industry Association/Electronic Industries Alliance) 568 B and FCC (Federal Communication Commission) part 68. The TIA standard is largely a cabling standard to allow for proper installation and performance criteria. The FCC standard is a legal standard that dictates physical characteristics of the plug and jack, such as form factor.
To meet jack performance requirements as dictated by the TIA standard, the tines of the jack must be as short as possible. To provide satisfactory electrical characteristics for the Category 6 jack, it is best that the tines be as short as possible. However, the shorter the tines the less resiliency will be demonstrated by the tines. This can create a problem when mating the Category 6 jack with a non-Category 6 plugs as required by the TIA standard discussed below.
In particular, the TIA standard requires the Category 6 jack be usable with legacy plugs (e.g., 6 position wide-2 contact plates or 6P-2C, 6 position wide-6 contact plates or 6P-6C, and so on). Such use can occur during testing after installation of Category 6 jacks when a test meter having an RJ-11 style plug (6P-4C) is plugged into one of the Category 6 jacks. Also, such use can occur when using a Category 6 jack to receive other style plugs, such as a typical phone plug (6P-2C) used for voice transmissions. When using these legacy plugs with the Category 6 jack, some of the tines of the jack encounter large amounts of deflection. While the tines of a Category 6 jack receiving a Category 6 plug usually experience a relatively small deflection, use of a legacy plug with the Category 6 jack may result in a much larger deflection. This is because the older style plugs do not have cut outs where there would be a recessed conductive plate or opening on an RJ45 style plug (Category 5, 5e or 6). However, to provide sufficient resiliency of the tines to allow such a large amount of deflection without permanent deformation, the tines must have a length so long that electrical performance is degraded.
The FCC standard specifies that the contact force between the Category 6 jack and plug when mated be a minimum of 100 grams (0.22 pounds). This is largely to ensure good electrical contact between the plug and the jack. If the Category 6 jack has tines long enough to provide the resiliency needed to accommodate legacy plugs without deformation, as discussed above, providing the necessary contact force becomes a problem since increasing the resiliency of the tine tends to cause the tine to generate lower contact force with the plug contact. The increased length also degrades electrical performance.
As such, it is desirable to provide a Category 6 jack with tines as short as possible to improve electrical performance of the jack, while still providing the resiliency to accommodate legacy plugs and the contact force needed to meet the TIA and FCC standards.